"Doctor Who" fan Chris Hardwick has called Rory Williams "The Kenny of 'Doctor Who.'" It's an apt description, because like that "South Park" character, Rory keeps getting killed on the British sci-fi hit.

"I personal hope that Rory just stops dying," Arthur Darvill said Thursday, emphasizing each of the last three words. Darvill plays the hapless Rory in the series, which airs at 9 p.m. Saturdays on BBC America.

Over the course of his two seasons on the show, Darvill's character, who with his wife, Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), travels through time and space with the Doctor (Matt Smith), Rory has died at least three times, been turned into a Roman Centurion, spent 2,000 years guarding his wife while she was locked away in a freaky box called the Pandorica, fathered an "Alex Kingston-shaped child" (that would be River Song) who many times appears on the show older than he and Amy are. He's also saved the day a couple times.

That's quite a list of accomplishments for a character who initially didn't even want to step into the time machine that's "bigger on the inside" called the TARDIS. Early on, Rory was the more cautious of the three travelers.

"It's funny the way Rory deals with things," Darvill said during a call with TV writers. "He's quite nervous and doesn't really want to put himself in danger but as soon as it's anything to do with Amy being in danger he'll just throw himself in straightaway."

Having to man up so many times has changed Rory tremendously, Darvill said, as did dying so many times. He's now "more assertive and slightly heroic."

"It's proved to him that even though all these incredible things have happened and all these horrible things have happened, his relationship with Amy is still the strongest thing in the world," Darvill told me. "It's very real and very good and he's still completely, wildly in love with her."

The bumbling hero shows his love for Amy again in this Saturday's episode. You can watch the promo below for more information, but Darvill just gave us a tease.

"It's called 'The Girl Who Waited,' so she's waiting for something and Rory has to go and find her and save her," he said. "But something's gone drastically wrong, which really tests them and pushes their emotions to the limits, really."

"Doctor Who" will return to BBC America Aug. 27 with the final six episodes of the current season, and with the Doctor, Amy and Rory in an adventure called "Let's Kill Hitler." That news came out of the "Who" panel at San Diego Comic-Con Sunday, where stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, as well...

Chris Hardwick started his showbiz career as co-host of MTV's "Singled Out" in the mid-1990s, which, um, maybe was cool. Now, as ruler of a growing Nerdist empire, he's making nerds more popular than ever.

With the worldwide premiere of Season 6 of "Doctor Who" underway--it debuts at 8 p.m. April 23 on BBC America in the U.S.--here's one more look at "The Impossible Astronaut" along with behind-the-scenes photos from its filming in the Utah desert and Cardiff, Wales. I've captioned many of the photos...